Fishless Fish Free Japanese Sea Vegetable and Nori Cakes

These Fishless Japanese Sea Vegetable and Nori Cakes would make a fantastic light starter 

I think these Fishless Sea Vegetable Cakes look marvellous without the panko coating that its a shame it has to be cover the colourful seaweed shades of greens.   This is my submission to #EatYourGreens food challenge.  Please do join in with you Green Vegan Mofo blog post, the rules are here.

Before I give you the recipe, I want a little bit of a rant.  Yesterday was not the day we had planned.  All our good plans went pear shaped.  We were on our way to Bristol to celebrate and have a little fun with my nephews, but the icy weather played havoc with our car that we had to turn back home and go to the garage.  It cost us £300.00.  Happy Birthday. There was no point in grumbling but I was very mift and wished we had never left the house in the first place.  All the signs with the weather were warning us to stay indoors.  When we got back home we just tried to make the best of what was left of the day at home and outside it poured ice buckets. 

Anyway, I digress.  I had so much fun getting back into Food 'N' Flix, so I am joining again.  The movie chosen this month is Burnt.  As a foodies, I have to admit I had not seen it or heard of it and to be honest, I am not a fan of either Bradley Cooper or Sienna Miller, but I wanted to play along with Food N Flix,  so I purchased the film.  I watched it one weekend.  

Although there are loads of food references, it did not terribly inspire me - perhaps because I am a Vegetarian and many of the food references were to meat and seafood, but whilst I was racking my head for ideas the scene when the two lead characters are in Billinsgate Markets,  London's most famous fish market inspired me to make some 'Fish' Cakes.

Of course I was not going to make anything with fish or seafood, but I did have sea vegetables and these Fishless Fishfree Sea Vegetable Cakes were created . 

Black Rice and Butternut Squash Savoury Fritters

I am pretty pleased with myself, missing only four days of blogging for Vegan Mofo 2013 two days of which have been the weekend.  Will you forgive me if I told you it was because I had my own vegan/vegetarian food stall at a Food & Craft Market yesterday?!

Anyway, I've enjoyed participating in Vegan Mofo 2013.  As a vegetarian, its not been that hard for me to cook vegan meals at home.  It has been harder to eat out though, there are not that many places in Wales, United Kingdom that offer imaginative vegetarian or vegan dishes, hence the reason all my post have been about home cooking.   

Well for my last post for Vegan Mofo, I thought I'd share a dish I made some time last week.  Its Black Rice and Butternut Squash Savoury Fritters.  

Burg Aloo Chaat Masala (Burger)

I created this Aloo (Potato) Chaat Masala Burger last week when I had a load of mashed of potatoes left over from a Bubble and Squeak cakes.  Rather than waste them, I incorporated them into two dishes.  The first was a 'White Bean, Leek and Potato Soup'; and the second this - Burg Aloo Chaat Masala (Burgers).  They proved to be quite popular. 

Although my mother didn't get to try one, she said that the flavour combo appealed to her.  Its the chaat masala that appealed to her senses.  I don't know anyone who makes there own Chaat masala, most South Asian families buy it ready made.  Its basically a zingy, sour and spicy versatile all-purpose seasoning that enhances fruits, salads, vegetables and  potato based snacks, which is how I tend to use it - to perk up crisps, chips and even popcorn - yes Chaat Masala popcorn, ones of my Friday night snacks.  

For those of you new to Chaat Masala the ingredients that make it so, include asofoetida, bay leaves, black pepper, caraway seeds, cardamon, cinnamon, cumin seeds, ginger, mango powder, red chilli, star anise and salt.

Festive Vegetarian Christmas Burger

Firstly may I wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas.

I have taken a few days off from work.  We will be going over to my parents later this evening, and tomorrow morning travelling to D's mothers. Having rested the last couple of days, I thought I'd play catch up with a little blogging. 

As you can imagine, over the past few months I've created a number of seasonal dishes and some of these have been for the festive season.  The one I would like to begin with today is my Festive Vegetarian Christmas Burger. 

When I began my little business venture, I had no intention of serving burgers, well not on a daily basis, but people have been asking for them and they have been featuring on the menu for the past three months.  Variations include those made with beans and vegetables, such as beetroot, parsnip, pumpkins, butternut squash, sweet potatoes and the flavours are equally diverse, from Indian, Jamaican to Mexican, oh I even featured my Haggis Burger for St Andrews day last month.

These Vegetarian Christmas Burgers are served in a large granary roll, with winter greens, a slice of mock 'turkey' and a generous spread of cranberry sauce.  I am submitting these Festive Burgers to December-January editiion of Simple and In Season,  a monthly event created by Ren Behan at Fabulicious Food. This month it is being hosted by Lavender and Lovage. 

For those of you with left overs tomorrow, yes you will be able to make these left over cooked vegetables from you Christmas Party menu. 
Vegetarian Christmas Burgers
Makes 8 burgers
A2K Ingredients
100g Fairtrade whole Quinoa
175ml vegetable stock or water
1 medium parsnips, grated (or cooked and mashed)
1 medium carrot, grated (or cooked and mashed)
4 raw Brussels sprouts, grated (or cooked and minced)
1 medium onion, grated
200g chickpea flour
40g dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Vegetable oil to shallow fry
A2K Method
Rinse the Quinoa in cold water. Boil in 175ml water for 10 minutes covered with a lid. Remove the saucepan from the heat, mix in a little salt and level on side for 10 minutes covered. In large bowl, add the grated vegetables, stir in the flour, cranberries, herbs and season to taste. When the Quinoa has cooled down add to the bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. 

Divide the mixture into 6 – 8 burger shapes and place on a tray. Leave to rest for a while to firm up. When ready to eat, heat oil in a wide frying pan and cook them gently, flip over and press them gently whilst cooking. Cook for about 3 - 4  minutes on each side until brown and crisp. Serve immediately.

Vegetarian Christmas Burgers with all the trimmings
To assemble into a proper Christmas Burger, you will also need
Large granary roll
a couple of slices of mock 'vegetarian or vegan turkery'
Cranberry relish
Winter Salad Leaves including some red leaves and optional pretzels in the shape of snowflakes.
Enjoy!
Updated: January 2013 - Fellow blogger Nic at Lemon and Cheese made a variation of these Burgers, follow this link to view.

Parsnip and Quinoa Burger

Well I hope you have enjoyed my spotlight on the Parsnip this week, as these 'Parsnip and Quinoa Burgers' are the last of my parsnip recipes for now. 

I've actually enjoyed eating vegetables in burgers. For me its been a nice change from soya mince, beans, pulses and legumes. Veggie burgers such as this one also allows overlooked and under-rated vegetables play a starring role. I am willing to bet that if you were chomping on this veggie burger, you would be talking quite loudly about the inclusion of parsnips, hence its starring role. The natural sweetness of the parsnips in this burger is not particularly overwhelming, but is balanced well with the light spices and the speckled goodness of Quinoa. This is not a sloppy burger either, it holds very well on cooking and more importantly on eating. Overall, I think you will be impressed at the versatility of the humble parsnip.

The recipe for these are loosely based on the 'Beetroot and Quinoa Burgers' I made last month.  I was thinking of omitting the spelt flour, but without it the mixture was too loose, so its essential for a firm burger.  The spelt flour also adds a little nutty flavour to the burgers.

Parsnip and Quinoa Burgers
Makes 6 – 8 burgers
Ingredients
100g Fairtrade whole Quinoa
175ml vegetable stock or water
1 - 2 medium parsnips, steamed and mashed
1 medium onion, grated
80g - 100g spelt flour, chickpea flour (or wholemeal flour)
1 generous teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil to shallow fry
Method
Rinse the Quinoa in cold water. Boil in 175ml water for 10 minutes covered with a lid. Remove the saucepan from the heat, mix in a little salt and level on side for 10 minutes covered. In large bowl, add the mashed parsnips and grated onion, stir in the flour, spices, parsley and salt to taste. When the Quinoa has cooled down add to the bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Divide the mixture into 6 – 8 burger shapes and place on a tray. Leave to rest for a while to firm up. When ready to eat, heat oil in a wide frying pan and cook them gently, flip over and press them gently whilst cooking. Cook for about 4 – 5 minutes on each side until brown and crisp. Serve immediately